The world is now well-acquainted with the concept of media empires, the kind of powerful, big business conglomerates that were popularized in the movie Citizen Kane. More recent examples includes Ted Turner’s revolutionary cable broadcasting networks, Martha Stewart’s magazine and television empire and the addition of Oprah Winfrey’s new NOW channel to her multilevel media organization. But for every one of these high profile success stories, there are others that aren’t as well known but serve their constituency in equally successful ways. The Internet now provides a powerful, open-ended field of possibilities for many of these specialized hubs, where forums and blogs and audio/video resources are converging to create media aggregates that can offer a wealth of resources and potential for growth sometimes even with better content than the big moguls. One such platform is WomensRadio with high quality content featuring the most remarkable women around the World.
With a brilliant mind and most charming personality, which quality by the way, according to our most recognized publicist in Los Angeles, Michael Levine, who wrote numerous books on the importance of charm in the world of media, Pat Lynch is one of those creative and unforgettably charming personalities who saw the potential early on and has successfully used those possibilities to their full advantage. She is the founder of WomensRadio and WomensCalendar, both part of an innovative and expanding Internet-based communications hub based on the concept of full expression to the diverse voices of women everywhere.
Pat Lynch discovered that she was a natural at communications early in her career, serving as a press secretary to a U.S. Senator from Tennessee and then a Congressman from the Atlanta area where she relocated in 1969. As she developed her communications skills, she branched out into other areas and began using her promotional talents in the advertising and PR industries. Eventually feeling that she could be more effective on her own, she decided to hang out her own shingle and become the first woman to start her own agency in the south in what was then a very male dominated industry.
Quickly establishing herself as a creative force in the market, Pat Lynch, as the founder and CEO of her own advertising and marketing company, built up her business through hard work and outstanding results, earning the trust of her clients.
Beginning in 1977, Lynch was listed twice in The World’s Who’s Who of Women, and has been consistently listed in the International Who’s Who and Strathmore’s Who’s Who.
“We were using Media in new ways,†Pat says, “and it often took a lot of convincing, but great results brought more business and advertisers began trusting in us with their marketing.†(Lynch’s company eventually specialized in real estate.) Her very first accounts included The Outdoor Association affiliated with local media baron Ted Turner as well as Citizen’s Trust, still the third largest black owned bank in the country.
By 1995, Lynch began to notice that women didn’t really have a voice in the broadcast industry. “I was aware of Katie Couric, Barbara Walters and Oprah, but these women are only a handful in the overall national media network,†she says. Deciding to create broadcasting content aimed at this potentially large and unaddressed market, Lynch created a syndicated show on health by a woman doctor that was uploaded by satellite for syndication in national markets, and in 30 days went from zero to 35 stations affiliates. While the 1996 Telecommunications Act had the effect of killing new syndicated programs, Lynch had already begun to look for newer and better ways to syndicate. It was the development of Internet streaming that launched about that same time that was to bring Pat Lynch’s full creative potential into play, allowing her to develop content for distribution on her terms.
“I had attended a NAB Radio Show for radio broadcasters during that time,†she says, “and all the talk was about moving to the web, so I started going to conferences and learning all that I could about “streaming†on The Web. We got our first website up and running in 1998. Our initial effort was the beginning of a family of sites that are oriented to women’ leaders. We figured out a model that we thought had the potential for growth, and it has evolved –and is still evolving to this day!â€
These sites for the woman leader and the organizations which serve her, finally came together under an umbrella company called Women’s Online Media and Education Network (W.O.M.E.N) which produces programming for the Internet, allowing women to finally express themselves in ways normally blocked to them by traditional media. WomensRadio is now a content-rich resource offering diverse streaming and text programming by and about women, in fields from business and technology to relationships and family life, environmental, political, health issues and more. Woman who are leaders in their fields, and who have something to share, finally have an opportunity to make their voices heard. “We will continue to add women leaders and their voices,†Lynch says. “We have a new iteration of our site coming soon. Coming in 2011 will be an all new talk, as well as Women’s music channel. Our audience, we’ve found, are largely professionals, well-educated and the influencers in the household, they are also actively involved in their communities and industries.â€
In 2001, Pat Lynch put up a site called WomensCalendar, an open platform where women could share events and get the word out about opportunities from which other women or organizations might benefit from. WomensCalendar has grown to become the largest database of women-centric events in the world, and connects hundreds of thousands of women leaders each week.
In the summer of 2004, Pat Lynch’s company added a new service called SpeakerSpot, a referral resource that lists hundreds of professional women or women with expertise, in a format that makes their service available to meeting planners around the world. This service is located at WomensCalendar where meeting planners can easily find potential women speakers for their events.
In 2005, Lynch’s company introduced a new multi-faceted robust streaming tool called AudioAcrobat®, which has become a state-of-the-art, audio and video, streaming and Podcasting service which allows anyone to create audio and/or video streaming for distribution by e-mail, is their social sites as a podcast on their websites. It’s now the tool of choice for hundreds of thousands of Web-based broadcasting professionals who want to have their long-form programs available on the Web as well as women who want to be a part of WomensRadio “hub†and the new WomensRadio Channel, a syndicated 24/7 all talk web radio program for women.
“We are thrilled with the worldwide acceptance of this tool for and its ease of use, which has allow so many women to join as hosts at Women’s Radio,†Pat explains. “We wanted something that would allow them to produce programming from anywhere in the world. We tried to work with some existing technologies, but they were lacking some essential features we were lucky to find some programmers who understood what we needed and were able to deliver a suite of products that are now known as AudioAcrobat®. It’s our proprietary and very powerful communications package!â€
Thousands of people are currently using this comprehensive and inexpensive tool to do what previously would have taken more time, money and effort. Musicians can upload music and send radio programmers or producers a “Listen Link.†They can also send a producer or radio host or a downloadable link. The format is easy to use and is built on Flash-based programming, which is accessible for free to everyone and is found in ninety-seven percent of all computers.
“We’ve also had a lot of success with companies who are using the program for training,†Lynch says. “They can send a text only e-mail with a link to the streaming content – avoiding firewall issues. Coaches, counselors and trainers can record their sessions, either as audio or video, and have their clients listen at their convenience. The newest feature for AudioAcrobat® will include ‘sizzle’ lines allowing hundreds of people to call a referenced number to receive updated information.â€
“We also like to think we do more for our hosts than any other Radio aggregator out there. We support them in providing our simplified systems, providing guidance to create great content for internet broadcasting and teaching them how to use the Internet and other strategies to grow their audiences. We are also sending out press releases, and include our Hosts in our Women’s Calendar and SpeakerSpot opportunites.â€
With an eye on a continually evolving market, Pat Lynch is also looking to address new demographic trends down the road. Included in her plans is a new division for Latinas, which will be primarily promoted in North America, but as it develops will also include markets in Mexico, and Central and South America. “We are also looking at the Chinese market, something specific for Chinese Americans, and then taking that abroad,†Lynch says.
In the final analysis, Pat Lynch is trying to give all women a larger voice, especially where they haven’t had one before in traditional broadcast media. “We are always looking for new technology and innovative strategies to give women of all languages a great voice,†she says. “We’re working on applications to give these people access to a worldwide market. With a leap forward in new applications and the advancement of products such as the new “pads†and mobile devices, we see an opportunity for people to carry our programming around the world.â€
It’s Pat Lynch’s vision that is creating excitement using existing and emerging technology, whenever it can offer to give a voice to women. But, more than that, uncovering, taking advantage of and creating emerging technologies comes to her as a direct result of her ongoing drive and determination. “We may have had our ups and downs getting here,†she says, “but now I feel like we’re really starting to ride a wave that will help carry us into the future.†Pat Lynch is exceptional, unique and a true visionary. A genius in her own right, and a philanthropist who takes it to heart to touch women’s lives in ways it has never been touched before!
